Boring
by SilverHeartSP
Summary: Being a statue sucks. (Pokemon Adventures Manga)


The Dex Holders looked to the sky in shock. And the next thing they knew, a blinding light engulfed them.

"NO-!" Yelled Red quickly; making sure not to drop Yellow while still holding a heroic pose. He couldn't move his legs.

All of a sudden, time slowed down. Red stared at Yellow's ponytail; the tips were turning a steely grey and he couldn't comprehend what was happening. He looked down and came to see a face of stone. He looked forward and suddenly he couldn't feel Yellow, he couldn't feel his legs, he couldn't feel his face, he couldn't _feel_ anything. And he most definitely couldn't move.

Silver had managed to take a step forward when he felt his feet getting heavy. His legs were _gone,_ or that's what it felt like because he couldn't move them. To his dismay, he was unable to accept the situation fast enough to change his facial expression before it froze in place. He was stuck with this now for who knows how long; he didn't even know what it was like since he couldn't feel his face anymore. He was greatly concerned that it made him look stupid; because he didn't know how they would get out of this mess, or how long it would take. At least he was near Blue.

Blue drew back her arm in shock when she saw her feet turn to stone. She had an expression of horrified astonishment on her face, realization hitting her much faster than she would have liked. When she glanced back for a second and looked at Sliver, his right eye covered by thick crimson bangs, she saw his face freeze before her eyes, his own eyes turning dead and unseeing. She looked straight ahead again, not wanting to see someone special to her practically dead. And then she stared at the same spot in the distance in shock because it was the one thing left that she could do.

Green at first had thought he had been hurt so badly that his body had gone completely numb. He had turned to look at that horrible, _horrible_ person in a cross of anger and disgust. His grip tightened around his Pokedex and all of a sudden he was stuck looking at one spot. He couldn't believe this. How could _he,_ of all people be stuck like this?! He was supposed to be the strong one, the hero's rival, the guy who then reluctantly teamed up with his rival to save the world in a time of need. This time, it was from Deoxys; the strange space Pokemon that now belonged to Giovanni but had flown away into the sky. Probably never to be seen again.

"...Oh my god..." whispered Professor Oak in horror, looking at his grandson's petrified face and the shattered pieces of the controller that had caused this. "Lorelei... _Please..._ don't let Blue's parents see this..." He said, sweat dripping down his forehead. It was silent for a couple of seconds while the lifeless stone statues tried to call out with all their hearts but failed because they were made of stone now. What stupid little statues.

Blue didn't even know how she was still conscious. How could she even still _see,_ even if she couldn't move her eyes, let alone _think?_ This was confusing beyond belief. She decided not to question it as she would end up confusing herself more than was necessary. She heard Professor Oak take a couple of steps around them; and then come directly into her line of sight. Huh; so all her senses except for taste and touch seemed to be working. She could smell something burnt all around her.

"...Blue..." Professor Oak sighed to her.

"..."

"I...I'm going to take you and your friends to another place when I can get ahold of some sailors to take you somewhere more…s…suitable. In the meantime, I'll get some people and Pokemon to move you indoors. I'm _SO_ sorry you didn't get to meet your parents properly." She could see tears forming in his eyes. "At least you're near S-Silver..." He trailed off, wiping his eyes slightly. With a new determined look on his face, he motioned for the others in the area to leave; and all of a sudden they were alone.

The first thing that all of them noticed was the crushing silence that followed Professor Oak's fading footsteps. It was deathly silent. None of them could move; not even an inch, and talking was way out of the question.

Silver was relieved for the silence. It gave him a chance to properly think about all that had happened within a span of around 2 days. He hadn't really taken any notice of the time frame; it could have been a single day or 5 days. It didn't matter. So...Giovanni was his father. He thought hard about what Green had told him when he had been upset about it... Green was right. Giovanni had spent a whole 11 years trying to get him back then settled with capturing Deoxys. He had shielded him from a full on inferno which could have possibly killed him. Giovanni, although he hadn't seen him since he was _two,_ had risked his life to save him. Silver had to admire that. He could tell he would be getting a warm fuzzy feeling if he were flesh. But he wasn't. So he didn't. Damn.

* * *

Silver almost fell over a couple of times. He had been petrified in a position where his weight was unevenly distributed; he was leaning much too far forward. Thankfully the leg he had taken that step with supported him enough. During the first couple of days where they remained outside, there was a storm. Sheets of rain poured down with unusual force, and Silver found himself worrying that the strong wind would blow him over. He was probably already going to grow moss (what a strange thought!) so he didn't want to look _completely_ miserable by falling into Blue's leg. Ugh.

Professor Oak arrived during that storm, in the middle of the night. Green was overjoyed to see his grandpa again. He yet again tried to move; hadn't he learnt by now? Apparently not.

He tried to move; he strained his mind to its limit trying to get at least the feeling of the rain on his arm. The total of the strained effort achieved _nothing._ But Professor Oak came up to him and hugged him all the same.

"I've come to bring you in, out of this storm..." he said, eyes glazed."I've already waited a few days. A few days too many; I shouldn't have waited this long."

He began muttering. Green was greatly concerned. How was he even going to get them where he wanted? They were by no means light, especially with 5 of them and Yellow being in Red's arms. And if he were to accidentally knock say... Silver, into Blue, then he would cause her to fall (and possibly shatter) and fall into Red (who would fall with Yellow and _she_ would shatter) and then Red _might_ shatter. He was away from any direct paths so he was safe. But if Professor Oak were to knock Silver, only He, Silver and possibly Red would be left alive. ...He hoped Professor Oak would wait until the morning and maybe get some strong Pokemon to help him carry them. He didn't mind dealing with a storm. As long as it didn't knock over Silver.

Red was surprised to see Professor Oak. As ashamed as he was to admit it, he had suspected Professor Oak would take a few days before getting himself sorted out. But he also couldn't blame him... it must have been hard to witness then be expected to deal with something like this. But a huge wave of relief washed over him, as he was sick of staring at the same spot in the mountains for days on end. He heard him go over and hug Green; it made Red excited when he heard him moving towards him. Professor Oak did indeed come towards him, and looked him straight in the eye. Red noticed he was unusually serious. The wind and rain howled around them.

"Red." Said Professor Oak.

"...Look after Yellow." Then he disappeared around the corner. Red didn't see him for the rest of the night.

It was still raining in the morning when he came back. This time, to Red's relief, he had brought three very strong looking Machoke and a Donphan.

"...Alright," Professor Oak sighed, eyes closed. "Pick them up. GENTLY!" He exclaimed, the Machoke exchanging a few glances before each of them picked up one of his closest friends. Red assumed he wasn't picked up because he was holding Yellow. He saw each of the statues pass his line of vision; first Green, then Blue, who were both being held at the waist, and finally Silver who was being held really awkwardly by the third Machoke. He suddenly found himself wondering whether his other friends could think and see like he could. He could hear and smell too, but those two had come as more of an afterthought. What would they be thinking about? He guessed that Green would be angry, but he had no idea how Silver or Blue would feel. He also guessed that Yellow had been stuck in a frozen state of unconsciousness, but if she wasn't, he had no idea how she would feel either. He could see, at the _very_ utmost top point of the small field of vision he currently held, his friends get placed carefully on the Donphan's back. How would they even stay up there?! Two of them were standing, and there was nothing to hold them in place. Before Red could continue with his train of thought, he noticed that the spot that was now etched into his vision became a different spot; he couldn't feel it, but he knew he was being picked up and placed on the Donphan's back by two of the Machoke. Professor Oak held on to them to keep them from falling the entire way back.

...It was _really_ nice having a change of scenery. It was still raining.

* * *

The next thing any of them knew they were being picked up one by one and placed on a wooden slab in Professor Oak's lab. Professor Oak had placed them artistically, in a pose to make them look like they were carved out of blocks of stone, not petrified, and then sealed them inside an airtight room with a million different types of locks to make sure they remained perfect. He gave them a good polish before he put them in; all of them were quite glad (especially Blue) as they had been paranoid about things they had seen on statues before (like cracks and weeds growing from cracks) happening to them. It was still an odd thought, despite them being like this for a fair amount of time now.

* * *

A month. An entire month, it took, before anything of interest happened to them. A month of staring at one spot, a month of doing nothing, a month of being bottled up and unable to move before Professor Oak decided to see them again. Silver was _fed up._ He was so _BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED_ he couldn't even describe it beyond that. DEATH would be better than staying like this at this point; in his opinion anyway. He was SERIOUSLY hoping to get set free soon; otherwise he would go insane. As soon as Professor Oak began undoing the locks protecting them, Silver first felt relief, that something was happening, then anger, for Professor Oak waiting this long to see them. Why would he do that?!

But then he heard a second voice.

"So, Professor, you said you wanted to show us something?"

A sigh. "Yes, Gold, they're in here. You stay here while I go and get Kris."

The final bolt fell off the door and it creaked open. In stepped Gold, looking curious. As soon as he saw them, his eyes widened.

"So this is what the professor wanted to show me?" He said, walking around them. "So, they made statures of our seniors..." And then he saw Silver.

" _Oh;"_ he said, mock offended, as he looked Silver up and down, hands on hips. "So _this_ is how it is..."

Silver was momentarily shocked.

"Making a statue of _you,_ but not _me,_ " he said, leaning against Silver. "That's probably why the Professor got me here; to get me to pose for a statue!" He said, grinning like an imbecile (to Silver, anyway).

He scrambled up on the platform and took his Pokedex out of his pocket. Standing behind Silver, he held it up slightly above himself and leaned to the left like Blue was. He struck a mock-heroic pose and put on a purposely stupid grin. "Look at me!" He began, "I'm a hero like good ol' _Silver_ here!" He obnoxiously rested his elbow on Silver's head.

"... _what,"_ thought Silver.

" _Silver_ totally went into that inter-dimensional portal thingy to save everyone! That was not me, the great Gold, but _Silver_ over here! Everyone clap for him!" He began clapping really loudly. " _Ugh…_ " He whispered under his breath. He hopped down off the platform and sat down on the side of the wooden slab. He frowned in realization.

"...Where _are_ you guys, anyway?!" He said, looking around at the five of them. "I haven't seen _any_ of you guys in ages! Silver would have at least shown up _once_ by now!" He put his head in his hands. "Hmmmm..."

The door suddenly gave a lurch and creaked open. Professor Oak pushed the door all the way open and held it open for Kris, who walked in, looking confused. "...What's this all about, Professor?" She asked, sitting down next to Gold.

"..." Professor Oak gave a shaky sigh. "I'm afraid to say, my dear children, that this is not a joyous occasion." Gold frowned. This isn't going how he expected it to so far...

"Didn't you just bring us here to pose for the statue...?" he asked, now feeling slightly doubtful. Kris turned to him in surprise. "Statue?" she asked. "What statue?"

Gold rolled his eyes. "The one we're sitting with, genius. Look above you."

Kris did just that, and was met with the tip of Yellow's ponytail. She jumped back in shock and stood up. Taking a step back, she examined the statues from bottom to top. A smile tugged at her lips.

"...Very nice," She nodded. Professor Oak looked graver. "Sit down, Kris." He said.

She sat down, looking confused again. "Why do you sound so unhappy, Professor?" She asked, concerned. He sighed again.

"I'm about to tell you that, Kris..." He took a step to the side so he was standing directly in front of them. "Please don't freak out over what I'm about to tell you. It may be a slight shock, but..." He frowned.

"Professor...?" asked Gold, making a face. "...Where's Silver...?"

Professor Oak shook his head gravely.

"Silver, I'm afraid, is currently with your seniors. H-"

"But that's a good thing, right? They'll look after him...?" said Gold, now growing slightly worried.

"...Gold, let me finish," said the Professor. "I didn't initially know he was with them. But then some things happened, and..." He walked around to stand next to the stone figure of his grandson. "...This happened."

He patted the outstretched arm of the petrified Green with a blank expression on his face. "Your seniors, and Silver, were petrified, turned to stone, disabled, whatever you want to call it. _This_ is them." Kris' mouth fell open.

" _No way,_ " she whispered. She stood up and stared at the lifeless statues in front of her. "You _must_ be joking..." Professor Oak shook his head.

"How?" asked Gold, not quite believing him yet. "That's impossible, right? How would that even work?"

"I don't know the details;" began the Professor, "but I do know that a beam of some sort was shot out intended for Deoxys... But it missed and hit your friends instead. That is the briefest version I can give you." Gold stood up, still in slight disbelief. "...So, this is _actually_ Silver?!" He said, looking straight at the shocked face of his closest friend. "Is he _Conscious?!"_

Professor Oak sighed. "I actually don't know that myself. And to tell you the truth, I'm not actually sure how to fix them yet, either." He looked worriedly at his grandson's face. "...I've avoided telling Green's parents so far; but who knows how long it will last. They can only be on their expedition for so long." He moved around to the figure of Red holding Yellow. "They've got to come back one day. And when they do, they'll be able to tell if I lie to them. My child knows me too well for that." He closed his eyes.

"Red's parents still think he's out on his journey, filling the Pokedex for me. But yet again, it's only a matter of time. His mum will come to me asking about him sooner or later." He opened his eyes again. "I'm not sure about the others. Blue's parents are out doing who knows what, as far as I know Yellow has no parents, and Silver only has his father left who is currently in the hospital's care for some serious burns he received. No doubt he'll come looking eventually as well."

"..." Gold shook his head, laughing nervously. "You _have_ to be lying. This _CAN'T_ be true; it's IMPOSSIBLE for anything like that to actually happen..."

* * *

The moment Kris had offered to become a lab assistant to keep them company, all four (five?) of the conscious statues had felt immense joy well up in their still hearts. She exited with Professor Oak to collect a lab coat; both of them muttering in low voices to each other. That left them with Gold. At first he was completely silent, standing at the back of the room staring at them with an unreadable expression on his face. Red was the only one who could see him clearly, as he had a direct front view. Blue could also see him, but not straight on. She observed him to the best of her effort; she wasn't going to waste a rare moment of action in her now extremely dull life. Unfortunately for her, he didn't do much. He stood in the corner, staring, for at least fifteen minutes, gathering himself. During that time he didn't blink at all; his eyes became red rimmed and tears were forced out of them due to a sudden overload of moisture. Blue was touched even though she knew he wasn't _actually_ crying; it was just a bodily reflex. And, even if he were crying properly, she knew it wouldn't be for her. He barely knew her, after all. It wouldn't be for her or for Red or for Green or for Yellow, it would be more for Silver than anyone else. Silver was pretty much Gold's only friend besides Kris. She wondered if Silver felt the same way.

Finally, Gold sighed and straightened himself. He stepped around them; out of Red's small vision field and directly into Blue's. He stared her straight in the eyes for a second, before asking in a small voice; "...Are you in there...?"

She tried to reply, even though she knew better by now.

"I'm betting the Professor's lying. He _has_ to be," Gold shook his head. "It's not a funny joke..." He said quietly.

He moved on from her and walked back around to Red. "What did you _do?!_ " He asked Red's lifeless form in disbelief. "If the Professor's not lying, then you must have done something really, _really_ incredible."

If Red were able too, he would have humbly denied the phrase; waved it off as nothing, then asked what was for lunch. But since he could not do that, he tried a new approach. Instead of stroking his own ego, He decided to try to address a small nagging thought that had been at the back of his mind for a while now. He attempted to let Gold know, somehow, that he needed support on Yellow. His arms would break off at this rate. Like Silver, he had nothing supporting him where it was most obvious, and that was more important right now than thinking a reply that Gold would never hear. Of course, Gold never heard whatever Red was trying to say anyway, so Red was left with his thoughts, growing increasingly more alarmed about his arms. He was glad Yellow was generally smaller than he had initially thought though; otherwise his arms would have broken off long ago. He was also glad that he was leaning slightly backwards, so that added to the support were it was needed.

"...Never mind." Gold said gloomily, shutting his eyes. He cast a sorrowful glance at Green, then Silver.

He left.

* * *

Kris came in every day to see them. She was obviously trying as hard as she could to keep them somewhat entertained, but she was awkward most of the time. She found it very strange to constantly have a one-sided conversation with a slab of stone, and a nagging doubt in the back of her mind told her the professor was wrong; to turn back and laugh and say she was playing along with him this entire time. But the professor had sounded so grave and uncharacteristically serious when he had told her and Gold, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind as much as she could, but it was impossible to get rid of. So she tried with all her might to do her best at talking to an unresponsive statue of people she respected and a good friend.

Most days, she read to them or told them about one of her many adventures with Suicune, trying to complete the Pokedex. She liked to imagine their reactions; Red would be impressed, Green would pretend to not be interested and scoff allot, Blue would wink and tell her that she did well, Yellow would be more than happy to listen, enthusiastic and lightening the mood. Silver would most likely not really care that much, or at least pretend to. It was hard to say for all of them; she hadn't really known any of them, including Silver, for that long.

Gold came sometimes. He gradually loosened up; he went from sitting in a corner pondering to lightly teasing both Kris and the statues. He laughed with her and joked around, more entertaining her than the statues. They didn't mind; it may as well have been that they weren't there. But they were all immensely grateful that they had both bothered to show up in the first place. It really showed how much of a kind person Kris was; given that she barely knew any of them. Their entire lives would have been so _dull_ right now; and they actually might have gone insane, due to staying in one spot and having a lack of thought. The only reason that they hadn't gone at least blind by now was because they were _made of stone;_ it was IMPOSSIBLE to go blind.

It should also be impossible that they were conscious, but none of them liked to give that much thought to it. It confused them way too much.

"-And then Misty told him to go away!" laughed Crystal. Gold snorted, then let out a bout of laughter. "Geez, Eusine is a piece of work, isn't he? He'll never get even close to Suicune at this rate..." He smiled and jumped up on the pedestal that the statues were resting on. "Did you hear that guys? Another one of Eusine's failures!" He laughed again and rested his elbow on Silver's head (again) as it was the perfect height.

" _...GOLD..."_ thought Silver angrily. Yes, the story was admittedly funny, even for him, but he was well aware of Gold's elbow as the rest of him was blocking his entire line of sight. " _Ugh."_ He thought more harshly. What an idiot.

Gold snickered once again. "Hey, do y-" He was cut off when the professor's voice echoed from the room beyond.

"Hey!" He began. Can you two come here for a moment?

"Sure!" Crystal laughed back. "Come on, Gold!"

She got up out of her chair and ran over to the door. Gold got down from the pedestal (to Silver's relief) and followed after her.

* * *

"...So, how are we going to obtain Jirachi...?" asked Kris, frowning slightly. "Jirachi is a mythical Pokemon. I highly doubt it would stay in a Pokeball- and there's the adding factor that we need to stay here and Jirachi will be all the way over in Hoenn. It's an amazing plan, but I don't really find it doable..." Kris put a hand to her head in thought.

"And what if it fails?" added Gold. "Do we have any method of freeing those guys without wishing for it?"

Professor Oak furrowed his brow, deep in thought. "...there are ways. But it is not risk-free, and I would much rather attempt this before trying something that could put them in danger. Green is my grandson, after all, and I will gladly drop everything to save him and his friends."

Gold and Kris nodded in understanding.

"So;" said Kris, looking up. "How do you plan to play this out?"

"Well;" began Professor Oak, starting to smile. "I happen to have found this boy... His name's Emerald. He seems fond of battling, so if I give him a Pokedex..." He recited his plans to them with a half-grin on his face. "The only thing is, the boy has no Pokemon of his own. Crystal, you would have to lend him some for the time being."

"I can do that!" Smiled Kris, already going over in her mind what would happen. "So, when do we meet this kid?"

"I've arranged to see him within the next week or so. Do keep in mind that he's quite antisocial and has never really had any friends before. I want you to be nice."

Kris laughed pleasantly. "I was going to be nice weather you asked or not, you know~" she said happily. "I'm just super happy we can _finally_ free those poor, _poor_ souls. They deserve better than this."

Gold nodded in agreement, a silly grin of his own plastered on his face. "We should get this happening as fast as we can; it's only a matter of time before Jirachi awakens."

* * *

All the motionless Dex holders had fallen into an awake-asleep state. They had lost track of time long ago; time was but a meaningless detail that caused everything around them to live, perish and die, age and grow while they couldn't, stuck frozen in time. They were stuck with their eyes open _all the time_ as one would notice, so this sleeping state was indeed with their eyes open. They dreamt. Red dreamt of his beloved Pokemon, stuck in his pocket.

He was glad that Pika was free at least, gone for a walk by some sort of miracle. He dreamt that they were all together; happy, eating under a tree in a clearing near a river. Green dreamt of his parents, of them coming home to him and his sister, and them all having dinner as a family like they did before they went away. Blue dreamt of her parents as well; finally meeting them and the embrace of her mothers and fathers arms. Silver didn't dream; his mind flashed in a blur of colours and sounds that he couldn't make out. The others' dreams eventually faded into one the same as Silver's, indistinguishable and confusing.

The dust-covered statues stopped paying attention to anything that happened around them. Kris and Gold had stopped visiting a little while ago, so they found no reason to take any notice. They didn't even remember how long ago they stopped. It could have been a day or a month, it didn't matter to them. But they were still conscious, even though they were half asleep and unable to do anything at all. It was the purest form of torture that Rocket executive could have wished upon them. Red was almost glad he was the one petrified, so poor Deoxys didn't have to deal with this. No doubt something catastrophic would have ended up happening.

A strong looking man, clad with a hardhat and clipboard, entered the room and was followed by four others. He took a glance at the clipboard and nodded to his men. "This is them," he grunted, and the men nodded back at him. One of them left the room, while another one took something out of his pocket and all of a sudden Green's swimming vision changed; it was now slightly angled. They had been propped up off the floor. Green snapped to attention as he heard a strong beeping sound, and the ground shook slightly underneath him. Curious, he waited to see what would happen. A big, yellow machine entered his vision. A forklift, he realized. Great. They were being moved, but to where? Anywhere would be fine right now.

Professor Oak suddenly appeared at the doorway. " _GENTLY!_ " He said, alarmed. He hurriedly rushed over to the man with the clipboard and brushed himself off nervously.

"Around what time will they arrive there...?" He asked halfheartedly.

The man grunted again. "If everything goes to schedule, they should be ready to go in around a month, two months at the most."

Professor Oak sighed shakily. They couldn't tell if it was relieved or worried.

"That's fine, don't worry. I'll alert the curators." He scurried off, clutching his head.

The man turned to face them and eyed them carefully. He hummed thoughtfully.

"Beautiful handwork," he smiled, looking at Yellow's impossibly detailed hair, then examining her face. "I wonder who made it." He said to himself as he watched it get loaded onto the forklift and taken back through the door. He nodded to the remaining men and the room was left empty.

Blue was admittedly curious about where they were going; it was something new, and that was always welcomed. She observed as they were taken to a moving truck and loaded into the back of it. She wondered where they were going; did Kris and Gold know? Was this why they had stopped visiting? That part had always confused her. Why would they stop? Surely they knew that they were the only things interesting in their lives at that time. Oh well, they would most likely not see them again for ages. She had this sinking feeling that they were about to be stuck in one place for another long block of time. She internally sighed at this thought, because who likes being a stone statue unable to do _anything?_ certainly not her.

Silver had known they were going somewhere else the day that Gold and Kris failed to show up. He had managed to overhear a fraction of the Professor's and their conversation; something about Hoenn. He had trusted his instinct, and it had later been confirmed when the Professor scurried off saying he would tell a curator something. So, they were going to be a display? He wondered if anyone would be interested. Pokedex holders were kept a secret for the most part, due to them being at risk and something like this happening. Also for other reasons which the professor didn't specify. Silver wasn't a prier, so he didn't push it. He didn't really care all that much anyway. He briefly wondered if the professor was going to Hoenn too as they were loaded into a ship behind a glass wall. They were sprayed with something of some sort and wiped clean, then the man who had cleaned them left and they were alone once more. What was it with them and being alone? It was really angering how people just left them there like an object. Tsk.

* * *

The battle tower was alright at first. People came and saw them, eyes lit up with curiosity. They read the book that had been placed below, looking up in awe at the five people who had saved the world multiple times.

"Where's Gold?" he had heard someone ask to their friend before, and they just shrugged.

"And Crystal? She's not here either," the person had countered. They had had an argument before leaving to look at some other exhibits. This is how it went for some time. Red was the luckiest. He was the centre of attention, after all. People stared at him. He would have gotten flustered, stuttering and insisting that all their looks and exclamations of awe was nothing. But now, it served as a rare luxury. Something to look at that wasn't the wall.

Red was getting slowly more hopeful. Professor Oak hadn't shown up yet, but that was alright. He knew that the Professor had something planned, and hoped with all his heart that it involved _fixing them._ Really. This had gone on for way too long. But he also had a feeling that he was right, so no problems there. All Red could do now was trust that the Professor had a plan. And he did trust the Professor, he really, truly did. The Professor had made sure that they had not been abandoned, had given them company, had kept them relatively sane throughout this. Red would thank him until his voice went hoarse when they got out of this mess. No one had any idea how grateful Red truly was for this. He really felt overwhelmed whenever he saw the professor these days. Even though he had stopped trying to call out long ago, he still tried to capture the Professor's attention more than anyone else. It was always doomed to fail, but that didn't stop him from trying.

Green felt the same way as Red, not that he knew that. He felt an intense relief flood over him whenever he saw his grandpa; just to know that he was there was enough. He briefly wondered how much longer it would take him to begin hallucinating; he was honestly surprised he hadn't by now. He mentally examined his nails as he thought to himself that it must be out of pure willpower that he hadn't. He thought for a single second about Red and the others; were they fine now? Would they be fine _WHEN_ (not if) they turned back? He sure hoped so. It would be a pity if he was the only one who didn't need to be locked in a mental ward for the rest of his life. He had a hunch. That he and Red and their friends would pull through; he just _knew._ It was unexplainable. He didn't bother questioning it; he just trusted it and hoped he wasn't going to be betrayed. His Grandpa would pull through, he just _knew_ it. He suddenly realized he had forgotten what Red's eye colour was.

* * *

Blue was up to her 657,934th round of '1,000,000 bottles of potion on the wall' when she noticed two Pokemon trainer-ish people coming toward her. Well, the girl was more like charging toward her with open arms screaming about a section dedicated to Pokedex owners. Well, whatever. _"More guests,"_ she thought to herself, before resuming her long and boring song. She got through another round before the girl picked up the book and began eagerly flicking through it.

"I wonder if they'll put us in there?!" she said, cheeks flustered. "That'd be embarrassing," she said, slightly quieter. The boy's eyes went wide.

"Whoa, they've even got a _statue_ on top of a book..." He said, staring at them.

 **SLAAAAAAAAASH**

A horrifying sound came from somewhere, and the boy and girl flew down the hall toward the door.

" _ **It's coming from the next room!**_ " The boy shouted, and a door slammed and all was quiet. Blue sat in mental silence for a second before resuming her song. She had a feeling that she would know _exactly_ what was going on in a while, but she pushed that feeling down, squashed it so she wouldn't be upset if it wasn't true. She had learnt not to hope long ago.

* * *

It was literally a day later (maybe less, but honestly, who cares at this point?) when things began to escalate at an extreme rate. They had no idea how _Gold_ and _Crystal_ and those two trainers and a boy with a weird haircut and an emerald on his forehead had ended up in their room. But then Gold stared at them, placed a bracelet on Silver's wrist, and swore to set them free. Well. " _That was nice of him_ ," deadpanned Silver in his own head. But he really couldn't complain. It wasn't his place. Especially not now, especially not in front of Gold. None of the five could honestly tell you what happened after that; Blue would say there was a fight, Green would say there was a whole lot of talking and not enough fighting, Red would shrug and say he forgot, Silver would probably glare and tell you to go away, and poor old Yellow would blush and say she wish she knew. It was all _way_ too fast; after months that felt like years (who knows? It might have been years) of doing nothing it was honestly going immediately from slow to fast with nothing in-between. If it were to happen in reality, changing speed at such a pace would snap your neck. So be glad it wasn't literal.

But yes, there was so much talking, talking while fighting, and allot of dramatic reveal that not one of them really cared about that much. Just release them, _PLEASE._ A giant Kyogre appeared at the window. Only Green could barely see it, and he couldn't care less if he tried. An explosion or two happened, Pokemon went flying everywhere. The guy in the suit of armour said some stuff about the perfect plan and the desires of his heart. Then the window broke and water pooled violently into the room in the form of a wave, not quite flooding the room or enough to flood it in the first place. The sounds became muted as they were submerged and had no trouble staying stable as they weighed an insane amount. Their friends and the three others were tossed about the room, coughing and reaching for one another. The water calmed and they were left at the foot of their pedestal.

All four of the statues were suddenly aware that a _Jirachi_ was in the room, being tugged at by the man in the suit of armour. The cruel man threw Jirachi behind him like it was noting, and the odd blond boy screamed in despair and ran to hold it. _Everything_ happened.

The room was flooded again, something to do with Jirachi happened, important things probably happened but they really still had no idea what was going in. The man in the suit of armour was obviously the villain here, and they would take Kris and Gold's side no matter what happened anyway. Silver began to think.

All of a sudden, he could _feel_ the bracelet on his wrist and it was truly the best feeling in the world. He honestly couldn't have asked for anything more. Just to feel that bracelet sent a sudden wave of inspiration through him, and he was calm. _Hydro Cannon_. Such significant words were sent through his mind, and he was suddenly aware of more bracelets, in the possession of Gold, being given to everyone. He saw Feraligator, using the powerful attack and a sensation overcame him. Gold said some more things to the boy, Silver didn't pay attention. But then everything slowed down harshly and the boy's voice was all they could hear.

" _RELEASE OUR SENIORS FROM PETRIFICTION, JIRACHI!"_ He screamed, and the world was silent. Not one of the statues dared think.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

The boy spoke again.

"That's it! Why isn't there any response?! Ah...This..." He shook his head violently.

His eyes went wide. " _The third eye!_ " He yelled. " _Jirachi!_ Open your third eye and then we can see each other!"

...Jirachi flew away.

"Wh...What do we do now?!" asked the boy in blind panic. "Granting that bad man's wish... _WHY WON'T YOU CONNECT WITH MY HEART?! JIRACHI!"_

Kris gave the command for everyone to jump out the window into the world's end. The statues completely lost track of things after that. All they could tell you was that Gold and the boy were left in the room, the boy crying over Jirachi. Kyogre was getting uncomfortably close.

Gold apparently said some encouraging things to the boy, and pointed down the window where Kris had disappeared. "Look," they could hear him say. His voice was muffled by the chaos all around them. But Red heard a particular bit stand out and then his mind was drowned out in absolute and utter _bliss._

 _"_...Senior's Pokemon Pika and Chuchu."

Red's mind began buzzing and a ridiculous amount of hope swelled up in him, sending a wave of warmth through his mind. Pika had come back for him. At that point, he knew this would end well. He had never been so happy to have let Pika go on that walk.

"They came because they have faith that the petrification can be undone! Everyone's counting on you!" Said Gold to the poor boy left in the middle of the room. Gold flew out on the same window on his Mantine.

The boy ran to the window and the statues were once again at a loss. But this time it felt graver, even though the boy was clearly speaking to someone which probably meant Kris was okay.

The water crashed and flooded everything around them while the boy spoke softly. He spoke for a long time; he remained uninterrupted and the two people who had found their way onto the deck were overwhelmingly respectful for what he was saying. All four of the unmoving statues were careful not to ask afterwards; they all had a feeling it was very personal. The two trainers they didn't know made an outcry at a point, but the boy continued. All else that was heard was the waves slowly destroying everything.

The boy was done. He was finished with his tale and the two trainers in the room thanked him honestly for telling the truth.

Red felt something extremely odd overtake him.

The next thing all were back in the room at sword point from the knight. Pokemon came in from the windows; accidentally and on purpose. Green spotted Jirachi, watching, from the corner of his eye. Everything happened at once again, and suddenly the boy screamed about how he actually didn't like Pokemon battles.

A tiny shard broke off from the corner of Green's Pokedex.

The emotion that followed cannot be described in words.

"The Pokedexes are resonating!" someone screamed, and they all looked at their Pokedexes and then turned, their full attention on that statues. All four of their minds went blank, and all of a sudden a whole slab of stone fell from Yellow's seeping face. And her eyes twitched.

All the statues started squirming, wriggling as much as they possibly could, shaking their heads, their limbs, their body until there were cracks covering their stone torture prison. And all the stone flew off, shards piercing the glass and falling at their feet. Silver flew violently forward; Red _nearly_ dropped Yellow, Blue's arm jerked harshly, narrowly missing Silver's head, and Green almost forgot that it took effort to stand. Yellow hung limp, her eyes beginning to open slowly as she found herself impossibly stiff and could feel cramps all over. And just like that, they were _FREE, FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE_ and had never felt this _good_ in their entire lives. Their friends came running up to the case, tears of joy streaming down Kris' face as she called their names. They could breath. Oh how _wonderful_ it felt to breathe again, to feel the air go through your lungs and back out. They were _never_ taking life for granted again.

Yellow, not aware of what had happened while she was stuck in a frozen unconscious state, ran up to the case with open arms, always joyful. Even if she could barely move, not really feel her limbs and had an awful migraine, she knew something had happened by the looks of pure and full _joy_ on her friends faces. She would ask later.

Silver had honestly not expected some stupid wish from a weird boy to work. But it had, and he realized that he now practically owed his life to this boy. A fact he was careful not to mention, and luckily, no one brought it up. Blue was quick to suffocate Silver in a bone-crushing hug; hot tears streaming down her cheeks as she laughed and laughed and laughed at how good it felt to live.

Red stood there in shock for a second, his hands not moving even when he registered Yellow jumping out of them. Then, he too, began laughing, pure happiness and an impossible joy spreading thorough his veins as he watched Blue reunite with Silver. He wasn't safe though; she pounced on him next, leaving a beetroot red-faced Silver and laugh-crying into his shoulder. Red shakily hugged her back, his arms unstable and legs buckling. He wanted to run, run forever through fields, over oceans, through the sky, run until he died. He collapsed onto the floor, pure and absolute joy resonating through his entire being.

Green was stunned. He stared at the wall for a moment, not daring to move his eyes in case it wasn't real. Slowly, carefully, he lifted his arms in front of his face and turned his hands around, his brain catching up as he realized that he _somehow_ could move. An indescribable feeling erupted in his stomach, one of wonder and happiness and a million other things he couldn't comprehend. He was aware of movement around him; red hair, black hair, a flash of a blue shirt, a golden yellow dress running past him gleefully to the edge. Arms were thrown around his neck, they held onto him and he could feel hot tears soak his shirt ( _black_ he realized) as his body trembled. He too broke out into sobs, sinking to the floor as Blue's arms left him and ran toward Yellow. Yellow still wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she laughed, her young face brightening up with a smile like the sun as she gladly returned Blue's embrace.

"Right!" said Red, taking the leadership role. "Everyone's here! Wait... where's here again?" Yes, he didn't actually know where the battle tower was. Stop laughing. "We were heading back to Vermillion city from Sevii Island, then this extraordinary light appeared..." he said wistfully, looking into the distance.

"Red! Save it for later!" said Green. "It seems there's another Evil that needs to be vanquished," He finished, glaring at the ominous knight. Time to get out of here.

* * *

Gold would admit that he had a similar mindset to Silver. He too didn't think Emerald would be able to achieve much; he had told the professor otherwise, that it was a good plan, but his hope had faltered when he saw Emerald. Though he went with the plan, did nothing to stop it, he always had this nagging doubt that it would fail. But it hadn't, and Gold could not be more proud. First in order of business: Silver. Relief flushed over him when he saw Silver getting choked to death by Blue; kneeling on the ground, his face red. Second: Everyone else. He was slightly bias toward Silver, yes, but Silver was his best friend. No-one leaves their best friend hanging.

Gold gleefully ran up to the case, and gave the order for his Pokemon to break it, break that horrible glass prison his friends were stuck in. Break it they did, and glass shards flew everywhere as Yellow jumped down and ran with open arms. She was quick; she hugged everyone at a lightning pace then asked what was going on. Gold was quick to fill them in, and no time was wasted. Red was quick to take leadership, and a vast army of Pokemon was gathered. The guy in the suit of armour laughed. He laughed and said it was too late as the giant Kyogre came ever closer. Gold found himself next to Silver in the chaos.

"Oh?"

"Um."

It was pretty awkward.

Gold told him to use the bangle; Silver complied without complaint, sweat dripping down his face. Gold was then horrified to learn that Silver had indeed been conscious; that he had probably heard everything that Gold had said about him. Silver didn't mention anything luckily. Gold made a mental note to avoid that conversation.

"After you put the bangle on my wrist, I concentrated my thoughts," began Silver, the sound of his own voice startling him. "And I could imagine Feraligator able to wield an even greater power than before," He looked at said Pokemon. "No matter what, and with the the recent results of special training…. and then...!"

Ruby and Sapphire looked over in shock.

"You can't have done that so fast -!"

"You've acquired the sealed technique?!"

Gold had a 'what' look on his face. "You're going too fast." He simply said, dumbfounded. " _It took me two months to master that!_ " he echoed in his head. Silver was truly something else.

Yellow spoke up.

"Okay; we've gathered the 10 of us," she began, struggling to keep her Pokemon up. "It should be a joyous occasion, being able to see everyone safe like this, but it's a pity..."

"No, it is a joyous occasion, Yellow-!" interrupted Gold, turning toward her and smiling. "You were also working hard all the way!"

But then the ceiling fell, and people screamed, and all was not well, and Emerald had found his way toward Jirachi again.

He said some things, his voice drowned out by the never-ending chaos surrounding them. But two words were clearly heard, a command for his Dusknior.

" _DOOM DESIRE!"_

But nothing happened, and Archie was quick to take note of this fact, explaining with a cruel laugh that the effects were delayed. Red's Pollywrath picked up the pace and charged; Emerald shouted to not come any closer. Pollywrath was hit in the stomach by an immense force, and Emerald boldly challenged Archie to a duel.

Gold lay on the ground, seemingly defeated.

"Alright..." He said, his cap covering his eyes. "I give up. You win." Archie stood triumphantly as Emerald looked back in shock.

"You actually think I'd say that~~~~~~?" said Gold, pulling his mouth and sticking his tongue out. " _IDIOT!"_

Pollywrath used Double team. Archie gave a cry of shock as he was disoriented by the well-timed attack. Red and Gold proudly shouted encouragement to Pollywrath and Politoad, who were now teamed to save the day. Emerald praised Gold's instruction, and an intense battle followed for the next few seconds. Archie took a nasty blow to the head, and the suit of armour fell off his body, stricken clean in half.

Archie stood there; shock and disbelief adorning his features, and Gold took the opportunity to taunt him.

Everyone gathered, Blastoise and Charizard standing proud as they readied for a command. This was going to _FINALLY_ be the end, and then they could go home and erase the recent past from their minds. But there was hesitation as lightning cracked and hit the sea, as they watched Pika and Chuchu surf along the waves. The giant Kyogre appeared in their line of vision, clearer than ever. Ruby and Sapphire pulled Red and Gold up from the balcony. Emerald told Archie that his plan would never work, something about a seal and not being able to control the Kyogre. Emerald, not missing a beat, saw their chance and gave the order to _attack._

Three blasts of water danced over their heads. Three beams of fire flew over their heads. Three concentrated energy bursts flew over their heads, smelling of the forest.

It wasn't enough.

Green was honestly sick of it by this point. He really just wanted to get back home, see his grandpa, and thank him for all he's done. Blue was thinking along the same lines. She had begun this to see her parents; she wanted them to get saved and be done with it. Red, though the battle thrilled him, wanted to see his mum again back in Pallet town. She must be lonely. Silver had nowhere to go, so for the moment he didn't mind the battle. He could see the fatigue on the other's faces, and knew they wanted to get back. So he did his part as one of the water holders as best he could. They really needed to kill this stupid Pokemon.

Kris said something to Yellow and her eyes widened. "New moves..." she said, eyes wide in realization. She concentrated her energy and screamed out to the two Pikachu and Pichu down below.

" _ULTIMATE ELECTRIC TYPE MOVE!"_

The Kyogre fell.

Everyone was silent, panting after the combined effort of three (four) ultimate attacks. Sweat ran down everyone's faces.

* * *

Emerald fished Archie out of the rubble, and he told his story. The armour was his life force, keeping him alive and tied to his master, as was with the sword. He desperately reached for it, having taken Emerald's forgiveness, the shattered in pieces on the floor. Alas, the armour could not go on for long without a wearer, and started glowing ominously. An explosion happened, and Archie along with the armour disappeared, nowhere to be found. Emerald sunk to the floor, exhausted. All was silent for a second as they all registered what had just happened.

After everyone had gathered themselves, they had a proper introduction to one another, and old friends reunited with each other. Kris hugged everyone, glad with all her heart that they were all safe. No-one had been injured luckily, but the Pokemon were in need of a well-deserved rest. So Yellow healed them, and everything was alright.

* * *

It was over. It was finally over and after some fillers, everyone went with Professor Oak to get fixed up.

Red went with Green. He had a million billion thanks he needed to give the Professor, unable to be expressed in words. When they saw him, Green immediately embraced him, trying to be tough and not cry. They remained in the hug for an eternity, Red glad for the time to gather himself. When they broke off, the professor approached Red.

Red stood there, stuttering and stammering and at a complete loss of what to say. Any courage he had previously worked up disappeared evaporated under the professor's gaze. The Professor embraced him too, glad beyond all comprehension that the children were safe. They stayed like that, but broke off quicker than Green had because the Professor didn't know Red as well. Red was left dumbfounded; no words would form in the Professor's presence. The Professor didn't mind at all. The three of them just stood there, enjoying each other's presence. It was a great moment.

Blue ran straight to her parents as soon as she could. She felt herself tear up again, her hands shaking as she jumped into their arms. Her dad held onto her and swung her around in a circle; she laughed and laughed and never wanted this to end. She would stay with them and they would be happy together and-

But she couldn't. Because she was a Dex holder, because she had a duty to the Professor. She shoved that thought down. For now, she was five again, happy without a care in the world, just glad to be with them. Her mother's warm embrace joined her fathers, and a family was reunited. She couldn't have been happier.

Silver watched Blue from afar. He was happy for her, but he didn't have a place to stay. He slunk away, into the shadow of the lab. Blue would probably let him stay with her, but he didn't want to ruin her special moment. She deserved so much better. He found himself bumping into Gold again, and the two shared a silence before Gold threw his arms over Silver and breathed that he was relieved he was okay. Silver awkwardly hugged Gold back; hugging had never been his thing. Silver told Gold that he was truly glad he had seen him while he was frozen; it was a rare time of action and Silver was also glad that Gold was okay. They sat in comfortable silence on the steps of Professor Oak's lab; neither of them had much to say and both of them were okay with that.

Yellow had been told what happened by Kris, and as soon as she finished, she burst into tears. She apologized for being such a bother for _months_ on end, and apologized for not being able to do anything, and apologized for being knocked unconscious all that time ago. When she found out how long it had been, (it literally felt like a second to her), she apologized more, flushing and tripping over her words. Kris laughed, and insisted that everything was fine now, that she had done nothing wrong; she had actually helped quite allot, and the battle wouldn't have been won if it weren't for her and Chuchu. Yellow insisted otherwise, but Kris was having none of it, and they walked back to the forest together talking about all that had happened while she didn't exist.

Emerald and Ruby and Sapphire were okay, and parted ways to return to Hoenn after all the chaos. The goodbyes were bittersweet, and filled with promises that no one knew were going to be kept or not.

And all was well at last.

* * *

 _ **I feel like this story isn't up to scratch with the Manga.**_


End file.
